Consolidated Edison (NYSE:ED) Rating Increased to Strong-Buy at Evercore ISI

Consolidated Edison (NYSE:ED) was upgraded by investment analysts at Evercore ISI from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other research firms have also commented on ED. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Consolidated Edison from $82.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Citigroup raised Consolidated Edison from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $103.00 to $116.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on Consolidated Edison from $88.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Scotiabank raised their price target on Consolidated Edison from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “sector underperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective on Consolidated Edison from $104.00 to $99.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $98.35.

Consolidated Edison Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of ED opened at $98.48 on Friday. Consolidated Edison has a 12-month low of $85.85 and a 12-month high of $107.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $34.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.55, a P/E/G ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 0.36. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $103.35 and a 200 day moving average price of $97.96. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08.

Consolidated Edison (NYSE:ED) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.68 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.56 by $0.12. Consolidated Edison had a net margin of 12.27% and a return on equity of 8.75%. The company had revenue of $4.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.02 billion. Sell-side analysts forecast that Consolidated Edison will post 5.33 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Consolidated Edison

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ED. Trustmark National Bank Trust Department raised its holdings in Consolidated Edison by 193.2% during the third quarter. Trustmark National Bank Trust Department now owns 12,210 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,271,000 after purchasing an additional 8,046 shares during the last quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp grew its stake in Consolidated Edison by 42.3% in the 3rd quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 3,731 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $389,000 after acquiring an additional 1,109 shares during the last quarter. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Consolidated Edison during the third quarter worth about $71,000. Commerce Bank grew its position in shares of Consolidated Edison by 1.6% in the third quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 38,669 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,027,000 after purchasing an additional 615 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Prospera Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Consolidated Edison during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $70,000. 66.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Consolidated Edison

Consolidated Edison, Inc, through its subsidiaries, engages in the regulated electric, gas, and steam delivery businesses in the United States. It offers electric services to approximately 3.7 million customers in New York City and Westchester County; gas to approximately 1.1 million customers in Manhattan, the Bronx, parts of Queens, and Westchester County; and steam to approximately 1,530 customers in parts of Manhattan.